High Reeper & Hippie Death Cult - Doom Sessions Vol. 5 (Heavy Psych Sounds)
On the fifth Doom Sessions split from Heavy Psych Sounds we get three tracks from Wilmington, Delaware stoner/doom rockers High Reeper and two from Portland doomsters Hippie Death Cult. These Doom Sessions are great ways of highlighting some of the best stoner/doom/psych bands around as the tracks are usually distilled versions of what the bands do on their own full lengths. Unlike a lot of split records, there are no covers just their own tracks written especially for this split. Kicking off with Vermillion Iron High Reeper take us deep into Black Sabbath sound with groovy riffs from the low slung rhythm section of Shane Trimble (bass) and Justin Di Pinto (drums) grinding out the fuzzy stoner power as guitarist Pat Daly pumps out Iommi-styled guitar riffs. It's followed up by Winter King/Devil's Grip a thicker heavy repeating tracks that adds a psych element and lets Zach Thomas unleash his wild vocal style.
These psych elements shift into Withering Decay the doomiest song from High Reeper part of the split, a creeping slow burner with a riff that doesn't let up as it drifts into more Sabbath worship. These three tracks are a strong intro to High Reeper and work well in opposition to the two longer, freakier, space doom of Hippie Death Cult. Fill The Fires builds from Ryan Moore's drumming into some shamanic blissed out heavy rock, Ben Jackson's keys adding the more atmospheric desert rock sound as his vocals merge with bassist Laura Phillips. The final song of this split is Towards Infinity which has an echoed guitar riff from Eddie Brnabic which flows on top of Laura Phillips grooving bassline and Ryan Moore's expressive drumming. Hippie Death Cult are a much more otherworldly sounding outfit to High Reeper but both bands show their mettle on this EP, a worthy introduction to either band. 8/10
Dan Baune's Lost Sanctuary - Lost Sanctuary (ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records)
In 2020 Dan Baune left London in favour of his ancestral home of Germany, here his role in music shifted from being a sideman, in NWOTHM band Monument to being a full fledged band leader himself. Lost Sanctuary (the band and the album) is Baune displaying talent as a multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/producer, he handles pretty much everything here music wise with the exception of drums which are taken by Baune's friend Sebastian Weiss. Lost Sanctuary is a fully realised vision of what Dan Baune can do when he's unleashed from a band setting.
He's opened up his email address book too adding some high profile guests on certain tracks from Bob Katsionis (Warrior Path, Outloud), to Rasmus Bon Andersen (Diamond Head), Jennifer Diehl (Fire Red Empress) to Aliki Katriou (Eight Lives Down) and even Doogie White (Rainbow, MSG) all adding their talents to this record. Happily Baune's vocals stand up to the rest of the singers on the record, while his musicianship is nothing short of virtuoso, using a wide range of styles, that all sit in the broad heavy metal sound. Open Your Eyes gallops away with Katsionis giving it a sick synth solo, Temple Of Fear brings a thrashier style Bon Andersen and Jennifer Diehl in unison, as God Of War is a bit of a mini epic, though burns a little too slowly.
With a lot of time to focus on the record Baune has tried to make this record the best it can be. Now it does suffer a little as God Of War moves into No Man's Land both are a little slow but there is some Savatage style to No Man's Land which is no bad thing. Thankfully the dark power metal of Master Of You brings the pacing back, with Matt Mitchell returning to the metal spectrum but the title track slows again. Now this isn't a writing issue as the songs are great but it's certainly a sequencing issue placing the slow songs in very close proximity means the album loses steam in the middle only really coming back for The Arconite. Still you have to admire Dan Baune for shaking off the sideman tag to create his own vision, a promising debut that needs fewer slow songs and actually more of Baune singing. 6/10
The Damn Truth - Now Or Nowhere (Spectra Musique/Sony Music)
Self proclaimed 'Rock n Roll Hippies' The Damn Truth cam about when vocalist/guitarist Lee-la Baum and guitarist Tom Shemer met each other while they were and I quote "naked at a festival". So that hippie spirit is what powers this record of ol' fashioned rock roll that finds it's roots in the Californian sound of the late 60's. Lee-la is a powerhouse vocalist very much the focal point of the band, a rock n roll chanteuse with honesty in her well worn blues voice. This album has been a while in the making as tracks 1,2,3,4,7, 8 were all produced by legendary producer Bob Rock, his style makes these songs burst out of the speaker with the typical Bob Rock 'loudness' and here he brought them back to basics.
However due to Canadian Covid restrictions the final three tracks 5,6, 9 were produced in house by the band out of necessity not choice. It's difficult to hear the join especially with the numerous names that have mixed the record. The songs on the record are mainly are about the love between the founding members but also the topsy turvy world we live in, empowerment and ultimately hope, take Only Love as a perfect example of a summer good time anthem and you'll be singing along in no time. Recorded on vintage equipment with a D.I.Y attitude, a song like Lonely inspired by gospel and the death of their van is sort of like Joss Stone fronting Rival Sons, Shemer unleashing a killer solo as the stomp clap of Dave Traina's drumming. Now Or Nowhere is a retro rock record with some Joplin-like vocals and blues drenched riffing. 7/10
False Memories – The Last Night Of Fall (Frontiers Music Srl)
Ah Gothic metal, a style that may have been forgotten by those outside of Continental Europe as even some of the more established names have moved away from the style highlighted by lace clothing and emotional (mainly) female vocals. Italian’s False Memories are relatively new to the scene having formed in 2015 but they have matured their sound into the Goth/doom metal sound you hear on this second album, the first full length with new vocalist Rossella Moscatello who wrote the record with founding guitarist Francesco Savino. Now if you’ve heard early Within Temptation, Evanescence, Tristania, The Gathering and Lacrimosa et al you will be acutely familiar with the style played on this second record and depending on whether you enjoy it or not will mean how much you’ll take away from the listening experience. For me The Last Night Of Fall was a little too safe and middle of the road for me to really get excited about, most of the tracks are similar musically, favouring doom chugging to underpin Rossella’s voice that sticks to the high register and never really deviates. There are Gothic metal bands that nailed this formula 20 years ago so False Memories just feel a little late to the party. 5/10